In the field of retail merchandising, hooks or rods are often used to present products in an accessible and space-efficient manner. These retail displays typically consist of a board that is affixed to the wall or some other stationary surface of a store with a long, straight hook extending away from the wall towards customers. A number of products, usually all identical, are then hung on the hook, as is well known. To facilitate hanging, the packaging of merchandise intended for display by hanging often includes a hole located near the top of the package.
One problem associated with hook and board merchandise displays is the decrease in sales due to decreasing visibility of remaining merchandise items after the front packages have been removed from a hook. This lack of visibility stems from the fact that as items are removed by customers from the end of a hook, the remaining packages near the back end of the hook are often partially hidden from view.
In order to overcome such problems, stores frequently employ people that go through the store at the end of the day and move merchandise items displayed on a hook towards the front end of the hook (towards customers) after customers have removed items from the front end of the hook for purchase or examination.
Examples of mechanical product pushers currently known include that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,608, which includes a push plate mounted on the hook, as well as a compression spring which wraps around the hook and sits in vertical orientation to the plate and the wall. The compression spring is provided to apply a force forward against the plate, thereby pushing products forward. This product is disadvantageous in that it is inefficiently constructed, unattractive and may be susceptible to breakage when products are pulled off the rod hook by customers.
Other systems, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,021, have an elongated spring that extends over the hook length and draws the packages on the hook to the front. In addition to being unattractive, the spring operation is complicated mechanically, and vulnerable to damage or malfunction. Also, the spring arrangement makes a rod hook that is wider than the conventional small circular hole used in most packages designed for hanging display.